Thank-you, muchly to anyone who reviewed, favourited or alerted this. I'm rather a bit attached to this pairing myself, and I'm glad I'm seemingly not alone!

2.

Jim Moriarty was pleased, not only with himself, but with Molly. She'd done exactly what he'd scripted in his head, and she hadn't even rehearsed! She was fantastic!
Although, he did feel almost bad for her, really, because she was just so nice. Really, who was nice these days? Well, apart from him, that is. Coffee had been nice too, come to think of it. It had been such a long time since he'd gone for a cup of coffee, or hot chocolate as it were, without wanting to blow the brains out of the person he was with after the first three minutes. It was a pity that Molly was one of the Angels; otherwise he might have actually kept her around. It wasn't that she was overly interesting, dear God no. Who wants to sit around all day and talk about dead people?-half of which Jim had put in the morgue in the first place-but there was just something about Miss Hooper that was... Anti-ordinary, he supposed. Maybe it was just because she was the first person he'd met in years who was nice to him simply because she liked him, and not for money or power or because he was holding a gun to their temple. Or, well, he was never holding the gun; but it was always implied.
"I feel almost bad," He said to The Doctor; his only real friend in the world. Friends were always better fluffy and without the capacity to talk, he maintained. "She's just so nice and she's probably going to end up either heartbroken or dead." He smiled, then. "But, I suppose, that's what you get when you have a heart." He laughed, a little manically, before stopping quite abruptly. "That's really no fun without background music, is it?" He stroked the cat and pulled out his phone. "Back to work, I guess." He sighed, but there was a happiness to it. "Hi, Molly," He said, sweetly. "It's me, Jim. I was wondering if you'd like to go to dinner with me later? Around four? And maybe to the theatre tonight?" He looked to The Doctor. "How do you feel about Chinese food and 'Saturday Night Fever'?"

"I haven't had Chinese food in years!" Molly exclaimed, stepping into the little restaurant in Chinatown, as Jim held the door for her, a grin on his face. "Granny doesn't like it much, so we usually just get chips. She loves the chipper. Peggy, my niece, is staying with her until I get home tonight. She's sixteen, doing really well in school. Got all honours in her GCSEs. She's making us so proud, especially Gran. Gran never really liked my obsession with death-no." Molly shook her head. "Curiosity with death... Oh, God. That sounds worse. I really just shouldn't try to make conversation." She said, dropping her eyes to the floor. "It's not my strong point."
"Don't be silly, Molly." Jim laughed. "I think you're wonderful." He gave her a cheeky smirk, his eyes twinkling. "To be honest, I've a bit of a...fascination with death myself."
Molly smiled, and then turned to face the restaurant. It was quaint, not a very romantic looking place but then, it was only four in the afternoon.
"I know doesn't look like much," James said, his embarrassed smile returning once more. Molly kind of liked that smile, truth be told. It made her feel less alone in the town of Embarrassment. In fact, the more time she spent with Jim, the less alone she felt entirely. "But it's lovely." James nodded to a Chinese woman who gave him a huge smile.
"Ah," She said, not even attempting to hide her accent. "Master James." She gave him a toothy grin, her eyes sparkling. "Your usual seat, I assume? And your meal by two today, I see." She turned to face Molly. "You are lucky lady." She gave Molly a nod of what Molly hoped was approval. "Master James does not usually bring people here, he keeps it his own little secret."
"That's quite enough, Kiko San." Jim laughed, rolling his eyes. The woman, Kiko, bowed though she was grinning immensely, clearly pleased with having embarrassed a regular customer of hers. Molly felt her heart speed up a little at the thought of being special enough to be the only woman James had ever brought with him to, what seemed to be, his favourite restaurant. The woman kindly showed them to a little table by the window, and Jim held out the seat with its back to the window for Molly. Sitting across from her, he smiled. "I hope you don't mind, but I called ahead and asked the chef to make something a bit special... If you don't like it, though, please tell me. I'll gladly get you something else."
Molly was astounded. Never had she ever been taken this much care of before; especially not on a first date. A blush crept over her face when she realised that this was, in fact, her first proper date with Jim. Her mind wandered to Sherlock briefly before it suddenly occurred to her that she was glad that it was Jim she was with and not Sherlock. This information both shocked and delighted her, though she tried to push it out of her head not wanting to ruin a lovely date by blurting out the wrong name by accident. "No," She said, biting her lip. "That's perfect."

Jim watched through the window, and out of his peripheral vision, as Doctor John Watson yelled through the letter box in Soo Lin Yao's flat. He had seen John and Sherlock not a few moments before as they had come rushing out of the Chinese diner that was situated probably no more than two doors down from the restaurant himself and Molly were currently seated in. He had seen Sherlock and John go around the back no less than a minute ago however, only John and made his way back around to the front and Jim knew exactly what this meant. Sherlock had followed his clues like breadcrumbs to a gingerbread house and was, more than likely, attempting to get inside the flat from the back right at this very moment. Silly boy. He would be getting himself killed if Jim wasn't constantly keeping an eye out for him. Jim knew that there was a member of the Black Lotus already inside, a member who wouldn't hesitate to kill the other trespasser to the flat.
"Will you excuse me for a moment, please, Molly?" He asked standing up, his purple Converse scuffing against the floor in the process.
"Of course." Molly gave him a smile and a nod, replacing her napkin down onto her knees as a waiter took their finished plates from the table. Jim had ordered his usual, which had turned out, not only to be her favourite, but his too. Such a wonderful coincidence.
"I must just give Sebastian a quick buzz; I can't go to the theatre looking like this!" He laughed looking embarrassedly down on his purple hoodie and denims with a rather shameful grimace. "Especially not when I'm bringing someone like you." He took a step away. "Excuse me, Kiko San," He turned to the woman that had shown them in. "Can we get that chocolate dessert that you do? The one with the fizzy, crumbly things that explode when you eat them?" She nodded. "Xiéxié." He bowed. And she muttered something back to him with a smile.
Jim moved suavely to a dark corner of the restaurant, making sure he was both out of sight and out of earshot of Molly before he hit Sebastian Moran's speed-dial on his phone.
"Sherlock's gone into the bloody flat." He whined. Why was Sherlock always so stupid? "I told you he would." A pause. "Well, tell her that he can maim him all he likes but he'd better not kill him or the Black Lotus won't be seeing that nine million pound hair-band ever again... Hair-pin. Whatever." Another pause. "I don't care if Sherlock kills him, he's not my problem... Yes, I know. I know. Just get it done, okay? Oh! And get the Armani dry-cleaned; I'm taking Molly to the theatre... Of course to see 'Saturday Night Fever'." He looked to the ceiling. "No, I don't have a crush... Shut up... I said shut up. Don't forget to feed The Doctor." He rolled his eyes. "She's nice to me... Oh, piss off, Moran... Did you tell her? Yes, yes," He waved his hand, bored of this now. "Asphyxiation's fine as long as it isn't fatal... Yes, definitely the Armani... The pink shirt... Yes, I'm sure... He's gay, for God's sake!" Another eye-roll. "He's in love with that stupid Consulting Detective and using Molly to—just feed the damn cat." He said, snapping his phone shut. He strode back to the table, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie on the way over.
"Ah! Dessert's here!" Jim exclaimed, giddily, sitting back down across from Molly, a feeling of relief washing over him as he watched Sherlock leave the flat opposite. He was a little pale looking, perhaps, but nothing worse for the wear. "I hope you like chocolate sauce!" He grinned.

It was getting dark when James met Molly at the entrance to the giant theatre in the West End of London.
"You look beautiful, Molly." He remarked upon seeing her and, for once, he wasn't lying. She did look beautiful. Her hair was falling in loose curls around her face and her pink lipstick perfectly complimented her pink a-line dress. It was funny, he thought. They matched well, even if it was accidental, and he couldn't help but feel a certain pride as other couples and passers-by glanced enviously at them. They really did look the part, to be fair, and Jim very much appreciated that. Molly really was an odd sort of perfect, wasn't she?
For his plan, of course. In general she had lots of flaws, didn't she? Like, for example, the fact that she hadn't yet killed that silly consulting detective of hers, or that she was even friends with the idiot in the first place. Or that fact that she was a little too pretty or a little too nice or a little too interesting. No, she had too many flaws to be connected to him and his one-and-only, solitary flaw.
He was so changeable.

He paid for her cab, of course, though he didn't ride with her in it. Taking her home, he decided, would be a bad idea. He couldn't afford to lose his game for a night or two of romance. No, this was about himself and Sherlock, not himself and Molly. It always had been. Molly was just an extra in his play; not a character of any significance. If he was writing a tragedy; she wasn't to be a part of it.

And there you have it. Chapter two. Chapter three will be up soon, too. I promise. It's already written but my internet connection is being such numpty lately. Thanks for reading! :)